Rubio: ‘Today our nation has suffered a deep loss’

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio late Saturday marked the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying the “next president must nominate a justice who will continue Justice Scalia’s unwavering belief in the founding principles that we hold dear.”

{mosads}“Today, our nation has suffered a deep loss,” Rubio said in a statement.

“Justice Scalia was one of the most consequential Americans in our history and a brilliant legal mind who served with only one objective: to interpret and defend the Constitution as written,” the Florida senator added.

Scalia’s death, during a hunting trip in Texas, will spark a firefight in the middle of the contentious election cycle over his replacement.

Rubio said one of the greatest honors in his life was to attend oral arguments in the Town of Greece v. Galloway case and “see Justice Scalia eloquently defend religious freedom.”

“I will hold that memory forever.”

“Jeanette and I mourn the loss of Justice Scalia, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Maureen and his family,” he added.